Two of the five Republican Primary Elections for state-wide office on August 11th will be uncontested meaning there is only one candidate on the ballot. With Primary Day only a few weeks away, and “early voting” even sooner, it is time to do some serious looking at the candidates even if there is only one candidate for an office. The state-wide contests for Attorney General and State Treasurer will only have one candidate on the ballot.

Many may think that Congressman Tom Tiffany (R-7th) is running unopposed for Governor in the Republican Primary, but he has an opponent. Twenty-seven year old Andy Manske, a medical technician from the Milwaukee area, is also a candidate. Tiffany deserves to win by a significantly wide margin but needs your vote to do that!

The one-term incumbent State Treasurer, John Leiber of Cottage Grove, is running unopposed in the Republican Primary. Leiber has local government leadership experience, has worked as a legislative aide in the Wisconsin Legislature, and has been a teacher in the Racine Unified School District. He also worked for a short time in the Wisconsin Department of Revenue. He went back to school “later in life” and has his law degree from the Wisconsin School of Law. In 2022 he defeated Orlando Owens in the Republican Primary Election for State Treasurer with 67% of the vote! Leiber then won the General Election with 49.6% of the vote beating the Democrat candidate (48.1%) and a Constitutional Party candidate (2.2%).

Leiber is a true fiscal conservative who has spent the past almost four years “safeguarding and growing” the state’s investments. His website states “Reliable, Responsible, Results”. He is a better candidate than he was 4 years ago. He deserves your vote of appreciation and encouragement leading into the November General Election!

In the November General Election Leiber will face the winner of the Democratic Primary. Yee Leng Xiong, a Marathon County supervisor and school board member, and Dylan Helmenstine, a Black Earth village board trustee and school board member are the two candidates seeking to run against Leiber.

In a rematch from 2022 for Attorney General, Fond du Lac County DA Eric Toney is challenging incumbent Josh Kaul. In 2022, Kaul won 50.6% to 49.3%. There were 61 write-in votes and the final margin was exactly 5,000 votes. Toney had previously won the Republican Primary with 37.4% over Adam Jarchow (36.9%) and Karen Mueller (25.6%).

Toney has been the Fond du Lac County DA since 2013; has served as President of the Wisconsin District Attorneys Association; and was named Wisconsin District Attorney of the Year in 2024. Toney is an experienced prosecutor who has also been active beyond the court room to enhance the quality of life for the citizens he serves.

For nearly eight years the Attorney General office has deteriorated from broken promises and political spin. Toney will work to restore the office to fight crime, support law enforcement, protect families, and enforce the law. He will bring fairness and justice back to the Office of the Attorney General.

In January the Toney campaign released a bipartisan list of 44 current and former County Sheriffs from all over Wisconsin that have endorsed Eric Toney for AG. That list included Monroe County Sheriff Wes Revels and Trempealeau County (Retired) Sheriff Brett Semingson. On Toney’s announcement tour of Wisconsin last October, he stopped in Monroe County where he was also endorsed by Monroe County DA Kevin Croninger.

Like Leiber, Toney deserves your vote of appreciation and encouragement leading into the November General Election.

A victory on Primary Day is obviously critical. Immediately thereafter, Leiber, Toney, (probably) Tiffany, and the victors in the Lt. Governor and Secretary of State elections will then need our enthusiastic and energetic efforts to win again in November! Get informed and get involved and let each of us do our part to make Wisconsin a deep red state in November!